My question: why does it take so long for Americans to get it? How did and DO so many people in Washington and in the country NOT understand the continuing hatred many in Colonial countries, past and present, feel towards the colonialists? Can the reason be an appalling lack of education about world history, even in the elite's schools? As someone from one of those countries, from the first moment of 9-11, I understood why Bin Laden had committed this act of revenge and chosen this venue. How could the Congress have been so falsely convinced of the Administration's infantile claims of WMDs if not because of a profound xenophobia and ignorance of world history at the highest levels of government and in the population at large. Colonialism is all about taking things. In th is case, oil, as we know. Bin Laden was from Yemen, for God's sake, a country that emerged after the War seething from a history of British occupation. At one point, his father wanted to transform trucks in his construction company into tanks for the Palestinians! Iraqi's will never accept American occupation. The Dems are doing the troops a favor. Who amongst them wouldn't want to get out of there!

Juan Cole - simply the best writer on the Middle East. I long for his work to be entered into the mainstream Press most of whose members need immediate tending with shots of IQ. Their wrong analysis, their complicity, even continuing employment, is going to do us all in if this Iran insanity goes forward.

Clinton should ignore all this Obama nonsense about hope and change, sweet as the sound bite sounds. China doesn't give a damn about hope in America. Neither does India. Neither does the Middle East. The world is at a crossroads, for Christ's sake! At home, it's the economy, stupid. Internationally, it's foreign policy, stupid.

From now on, her slogan should be: It's one thing to be elected, it takes another to govern. Clinton CAN!

Time and time again, election after election, the media gets it wrong yet there they are next time, frothing away fired by their personal peeves against one candidate or another. Classic example: Arianna "newcomer to this country" Huffington, who bought her way into the arena by marrying a Mr Huffington, then a few years later divorcing him thereby "inheriting" operating capital, who seems to have a beef against Hillary Clinton that is positively glaring. I watched her on Charlie Rose last night and the other guests were open-mouthed by her diatribe, she just couldn't stop. I suspect that the Clintons have given her short shrift: they were at Oxford, they know her story. So do I. Arianna Miss Greece has quite a story and it's all about her. Another who just can't give it up for a woman is Maureen Dowd. Do we have to be subjected to these women's vitriolic baggage forever? I'm sick of it. Congratulations, Hilary, you deserve it.

The little My Space literary contribution of Bristol's boyfriend, Levi (?) is enough to make me sick. The McSame people know nothing about young peoples' use of the internet to declare who they are or they would never have let his dirty little self revelations out to be read by the world. Oh, and he doesn't want kids, he says. Choice!